Dreams Deferred- Langston Hughes

There are many literary techniques in this poem. I found it interesting that almost the entire poem contained rhetorical questions. The speaker is asking the reader what happens to dreams or goals that they don't go after. Although rhetorical questions don't require an answer, I think they are effective because they allow for reader involvement. While reading this poem, I found myself seeking an answer to each of the questions posed. Do my dreams "dry up like raisins in the sun?" Do my dreams "stink like rotten meat?" I suppose they do. Rhetorical questions get the reader thinking.


Another literary technique used in this poem was a metaphor. The entire poem contained five similes and was only eleven lines long. That impressed me. The last line however contained a metaphor. The metaphor was "or does it explode?". I think this metaphor that compares giving up dreams to explosions is effective because it creates a lasting image. I think the writer used five similes and then one metaphor to contrast his final idea and show how it was different from the others. The word explosion brings up images of destruction and doom which is what the speaker says will happen if we don't go after our dreams.